This super easy, incredibly moist and flavoursome cream cheese cherry pound cake is the perfect centrepiece for an afternoon tea or any celebration event.
A Cape Breton recipe
This cream cheese cherry pound cake recipe comes all the way from Cape Breton Island in Canada. Mrs. Pyke submitted it to a recipe collection printed in a little booklet by the folk who attend the Glenview Campground in the summer months.
My grandmother (now deceased) submitted several recipes for the booklet, and she posted a copy overseas to me. This was one of the first cake recipes I shared on my food blog, way back in 2012.
This recipe does not use liquid milk. Instead, it uses cream cheese, which imparts a tangy flavour to the cake and keeps the crumb moist and dense. The cherries add gorgeous flecks of colour and sweetness throughout. You can use maraschino cherries, as the original recipe suggests, or quarter fresh cherries.
I remember, quite fondly, having this cake at every potluck supper, but it was always cooked in a loaf tin and iced with glacé frosting. Here, I’ve lightly dusted it with icing sugar.
What you’ll need
- 1 cup unsalted butter – besides adding moisture and flavour to cakes, butter helps baked goods rise. Creaming butter and sugar together creates an aerated mixture that provides lift before, during and after baking.
- 1 cup full-fat cream cheese – this imparts a tangy flavour to the cake and keeps the crumb moist and dense. Don’t substitute with low fat.
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar – a popular sweetener fine enough to dissolve easily in the batter but large enough to create air pockets when creamed with butter.
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste – vanilla’s aromatic and floral notes enhance nearly everything it touches, including the sweetness perception of baked goods. If you don’t have paste, substitute with vanilla extract.
- 3 tsp baking powder – an essential leavening agent that creates a lighter bake that’s not overly dense.
- 4 large free-range eggs – provide emulsification and structure to the bake, creating a smooth, well-mixed batter. They also bind the ingredients together so the cake doesn’t crumble apart. I always use free-range local eggs when available.
- 1 1/2 cups maraschino cherries – the original recipe called for quartered, drained maraschino cherries, but you can substitute with fresh cherries if you prefer/in season.
- 2 1/4 cups plain flour – the basis of every good light and fluffy cake. Flour provides the cake’s structure when the proteins interact in the presence of liquid to form gluten.
How to make cream cheese cherry pound cake
- Preheat your oven to 160 C/325 F. Butter and flour a bundt or tube pan, or a 23 cm springform cake tin.
- Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift the baking powder and 2 cups of the flour together and add to the liquid mixture, combining well.
- Mix the remaining 1/4 cup flour with the quartered maraschino cherries and fold gently into the cake batter.
- Pour into a prepared cake tin. and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before removing.
Recipe Difficulty Levels
Easy
Requires basic cooking skills and ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Moderate
Requires more experience, preparation and/or cooking time. You may have to source special ingredients.
Challenging
Recipes requiring more advanced skills and experience and maybe some special equipment.
Cream Cheese Cherry Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup cream cheese
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1.5 cups maraschino cherries
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 4 large free-range eggs
- 2.25 cups plain flour
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Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160 °C/325 °F. Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan, or a 23 cm springform tin.
- Using an electric hand mixer, cream 1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup cream cheese, 1.5 cups granulated sugar and 1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste together.
- Add 4 large free-range eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift 3 tsp baking powder and 2 cups of 2.25 cups plain flour together and add to the liquid mixture, combining well.
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
Gouda & Cashew Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
Absolutely amazing
What a beautiful cake. I have never tried much in the way of icing and these roses look so pretty I must try it!
Thank you 🙂 It really is a simple and effective way of decorating a cake. No faffing about for hours with butter cream!
What a beautiful looking. Cake. The icing looks so effective. I”ll have to have a try of that.
Thank you 🙂
Wow that looks amazing!
Thank you Kate 🙂
Wow this looks amazing!